Sending notifications to auxiliary displays
First Claim
1. In a computing environment having a main computer system and an auxiliary device coupled thereto, a method comprising:
- on the main computer system, formatting a notification parameter set for displaying a notification on the auxiliary device; and
calling an interface with the notification parameters to request that the notification be displayed on the auxiliary device.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Described is a system and method by which application programs running on a main computer system communicate with an auxiliary display device (such as a cell phone, pocket-sized computer, alarm clock, television, digital picture frame and so forth) to provide viewable information on the device, remote control capabilities, and notifications. Via API calls, programs provide information in the same format regardless of the device capabilities and/or the connection type. An auxiliary display platform converts a notification into a format understood by a device driver, which then filters the notification as desired for its particular hardware device before the notification is communicated. Return communications return data such as status and user interaction with the displayed information. Software vendors may thus write code once to output notifications on auxiliary displays, while hardware manufacturers can have their devices work as auxiliary displays, with little or no modification to existing hardware.
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Citations
41 Claims
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1. In a computing environment having a main computer system and an auxiliary device coupled thereto, a method comprising:
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on the main computer system, formatting a notification parameter set for displaying a notification on the auxiliary device; and
calling an interface with the notification parameters to request that the notification be displayed on the auxiliary device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. In a computing environment having a main computer system, a method comprising:
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receiving a call from a computer program running on the main computer system, including a call having notification parameter data that corresponds to a notification to communicate to an auxiliary device coupled to the main computer system; and
accessing the notification parameter data to communicate data corresponding to the notification parameter data to the auxiliary device to request output of a corresponding notification. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. In a computing environment, a method comprising:
at an auxiliary device coupled to a main computer system;
receiving notification data from the main computer system; and
processing the notification data to output a notification on the auxiliary device. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. In a computing environment having a main computer system and an auxiliary device coupled thereto, a system comprising:
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an auxiliary platform on the main computer system, the auxiliary platform including, a) a notification interface that receives calls from a program running on the main computer system, including a call having a set of at least one notification parameter corresponding to a notification to communicate to the auxiliary device, the set of at least one parameter independent of any particular auxiliary device hardware;
a device driver interface that couples the auxiliary platform to a device driver associated with the auxiliary device; and
wherein the auxiliary platform converts the notification into notification data in a format understood by the device driver such that the device driver forwards the notification data for communication to the auxiliary device. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. At least one computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions which when executed perform steps, comprising:
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receiving calls from a computer program running on the main computer system, including a call having a set of at least one parameter corresponding to notification data to communicate to an auxiliary device, the set of at least one parameter independent of any particular auxiliary device hardware;
determining to which of a plurality of types of auxiliary devices the notification data should be communicated, and for each such device;
a) accessing the notification data to convert the notification data to a format understood by that auxiliary device or by a device driver for that auxiliary device and b) communicating the notification data to that auxiliary device. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41)
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Specification